Dr. Paula Marie Pitha-Rowe, a Johns Hopkins virologist whose research on cancer and the body's immune response to HIV added to the understanding of how those diseases work, died of a heart attack March 5 at Union Memorial Hospital. The Tuscany-Canterbury resident was 77.

Until this winter, Tazewell Thompson had made only one visit to Baltimore. In 1991, the New York-born and -based theater/opera director, not to mention playwright, was here as an audience member to attend a premiere of a play about Scott Joplin at...

As she will be the first to remind you, Mama Nadi is "running a business, not a mission." She only takes on new mouths to feed when they can help contribute to the income of her establishment. And that means being attractive and pliant enough to service...

Natalie L. "Toby" Mendeloff, a community activist and volunteer, died Jan. 29 at Sinai Hospital of complications of the flu. She was 94.
The daughter of Henry Lavenstein, a department store owner, and Bessie Siff Lavenstein, a homemaker, Natalie...

Call it "One Winter in Baltimore."
For the second time, Center Stage has announced an extension of its brilliant production of "One Night in Miami…," the inventive play by Kemp Powers about the 1964 evening that Cassius Clay (just before he...

In one of the more intriguing collaborations of the current New York theater season, Julie Taymor will direct actress Anne Hathaway in a play about drone warfare that will open this spring at the Public Theater.
"Grounded," by George Brant, is set to run at the Public from April 7 to May 17, with an official opening on April 23. The drama, which is a late addition to the company's season, tells the story of a female fighter pilot who becomes pregnant and is then reassigned to long shifts overseeing a...

It is always tough trying to decide on a top 10 list. For that matter, it's tough not to hate the very idea of top 10 lists.
But here it goes, anyway -- the top 10 classical music and theater peaks I experienced in Baltimore during 2014. I limited myself to only five from each genre, just to make it harder to choose, and because a top 20 wouldn't be any easier.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
1. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor: Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 (November, Meyerhoff Hall ).
The...

Ah, Christmastime, when the nippy air is filled with heartwarming thoughts of family, friends and cold-blooded murder.
Thanks, Everyman Theatre, for providing the perfect anti-holiday entertainment — a revival of Ira Levin's good old-fashioned thriller "Deathtrap." This dose of duplicity, violence, nefariousness and more violence may just be the best spirit-lifter to come along this season.
Stick with all the usual feel-good fare, if you must (you really need to watch "Miracle on 34th Street"...

Dr. Esther Edery Dibos, a retired Towson pediatrician who was a founder of the Hispanic Apostolate, a Fells Point clinic, died Dec. 8 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
She was 78.
"She was a very soft-spoken and a very effective person," said Dr. Clayton L. Moravec, former chief of infectious diseases at Franklin Square Medical Center and a friend of 42 years. "She was a very, very special person and had been our...

Spoiler alert! We asked pairs of prominent Baltimoreans — relatives, co-workers and friends — what would make their trees twinkle this holiday season.
Here's a peek at what a few of the city's best and brightest would like to receive from each other.
Laura Wexler and Jessica Henkin co-founders of Stoop Storytelling and friends
Laura would like: "I would love a massage from Ojas. Their massages are so awesome because every one of them comes with hot stones, aromatherapy, hot towels...

When audiences file into Everyman Theatre for performances of George Brant's gripping one-act, one-actor play "Grounded," they are greeted with the sight of a figure sitting motionless onstage, facing a wall covered with large TV monitors. There is no image displayed, just wavy, jittery lines, waiting for a transmission.
The horizontal shimmers that spread silently across this bank of screens suggest waves on the sea reflecting sunlight, an apt image for a work that thrusts you into a sea of moral...